Ren
So, it's time to embark on this...little endeavor of mine. I feel that throughout the entire year, I've uh...missed my quota of doing absolutely insane feats of effort. And I'd thought that it'd be nice to do something a tiny bit different. If you didn't catch my trailer, throughout the month of December, I am going to be reviewing every. Single. Official Nicktoon. You heard that right. I'm going to try and get each and every single one of them reviewed *As of 2019 'Oh yeah. It's gonna be a palooza. Now, I'm not going to be reviewing things like, just a pilot that lasted one episode, or shows that aired exclusively on Nicktoons Network. Like ''Making Fiends ''or ''Constant Payne. And I'm not going to tackle any of Nickelodeon's imported shows like Pelswick, Wayside, or Yakkity Yak. Maybe some other year, but not this one. Cause, that still leaves us with around 50 shows by my account. We're doing everything from Ren & Stimpy ''in 1991 to ''The Casagrandes in 2019. That's 28 years of content that I'm going to be trying to go through in a little bit more than 28 days. And yes, I am going to be revisiting shows that I have seen in the past. Some of which that I've even talked about and reviewed on this channel. We're gonna get to see how well my opinions hold up. Some of these shows I'm really excited to revisit. Others...not so much. Some of the shows like El Tigre ''or ''The X's I've actually never seen in my life. And I know that I've gotten a ton'' of requests for shows like Tak and the Power of Juju ''or ''Back at the Barnyard. And now you guys are finally getting your chance to see what I think about them. These reviews aren't going to be as complex as the original Legend of Korra ''review, but I hope that it is enough and it gives you's guys something to look forward to throughout this December. Unfortunately, we're going to need to start with ''Ren & Stimpy. '''Ren: Oh, you like the game, huh? Well...how do you like...this?! *unzips his crotch* (Stimpy and Sven gasp as Ren starts urinating on their board game and giggles in a creepy manner. An electric sound can be heard and the house explodes, leaving a crater leading to hell) If you haven't heard, Ren & Stimpy's creator has been going through a lot of controversy in the past couple of years. If you're interested in hearing more about that, there are a few videos you can look up. I do go into the controversy slightly in my Cans Without Labels ''review, but I'd highly recommend the video by blameitonjorge. We're here to talk about the actual show ''Ren & Stimpy ''and not the creator of ''Ren & Stimpy. Because with Ren & Stimpy, there's actually a lot to talk about. It's hard to deny that Ren & Stimpy ''is one of the most influential shows of the nineties. And we still see its influence to this day, for better or for worse. And that's 'beyond obvious. ['''Caption: Supercut of grossest moments curtosy of Nick Rewind] So, let's start with the really, really, really obvious. Ren & Stimpy ''is an incredibly gross show and I have a feeling that if you don't enjoy that nineties' booger-infused flavor, you might have a hard time revisiting this one. I'm not saying that ''Ren & Stimpy ''is all grossout as it's stereotyped, because it's not. But there's no denying that you need to get past that if you want to enjoy this show on any level. There was a lot of talent that went into this show. While the characters were made of very simple shapes, as was norm of the time, the expressions are often these' phenomenal' deranged stills. But what really makes the humor work is the slapstick. Personally, I think that this show is up there with the original ''Tom & Jerry ''at how well they convey the humor of physical pain. Watching this show can make you feel like you've downed a barrel of Pixy Stix...made out of crack. The scenarios of the episodes are bizarre. It can feel very much like a young child's fever dream, and it really is a show like 'no other. 'In a way that I have a hard time describing. '''Ren: '*screams* It's happening again! My brain! My hot...stinging...BRAIN!!!! ' ''(Ren screams as a background of fire appears behind him) This show has been ripped off time and time again. Nickelodeon tried making their own Ren & Stimpy ''with ''Cow and Chicken ['''Caption: *Cartoon Network tried making their own Ren & Stimpy], and that didn't pan out nearly as well. Chicken: '-butts and taters, please! *gets covered in slop* Hey! This isn't pork butts and taters! This is dog goo! It's Tuesday! I always have pork butts and taters on Tuesday! Disney tried making ''Shnookums and Meat, which was nothing more than a pale imitation. And those are some of the ''better ripoffs of ''Ren & Stimpy. Shows like Mega Babies ''aired throughout all of the nineties, trying to capture...this bizarre magic here. But most of them did not see the forest for the trees, and all they thought they needed to do was just be as gross as possible. But you'll notice that the episodes touted as the greatest ''Ren & Stimpy ''episodes of all time actually aren't all that gross. '''Ren: '...no...no sleep. *laughs* No sleep...no bed! *laughs* No, no, no! Bed, bed, bed! *grabs axe and laughs maniacally* At least not comparatively to the other ones. No one talks about the episode where...Ren and Stimpy dressed up like babies for instance. They talk about episodes like "Stimpy's Invention," because it has a wide variety of humor. This episode in particular took what, like over a year to come out? You can see that work in ''every single frame. The timing is outstanding and each joke lands. In a way, Ren & Stimpy ''helped form Nickelodeon's identity. It was the less clean and proper network, compared to its later rivaled Cartoon Network and especially Disney. Nickelodeon was more likely to get "down and dirty," and that eventually transcended into their live action shows as well, with the trademark Nickelodeon slime. '''Ren: '''Hello. We are the UN wiener inspectors. I guess the obvious question on your mind might be is: do I like ''Ren & Stimpy? I'll have to admit that Ren & Stimpy ''is one of those shows that I...'respect''' a lot more than I like. I don't often go out of my way to watch Ren & Stimpy ''for personal viewing pleasure, unless I have to watch it for things like my Halloween special way back when or the ''Cans Without Labels ''review. And...I don't mind it as much as you think I might, because it doesn't have as much grossout as you might think. It's definitely there and it can be distracting, but, it's not like '''every '''single crevice is filled with grossout. I don't really enjoy watching ''Ren & Stimpy ''because I like watching shows that focus more on their stories. Pure comedies don't really do much for me, and ''Ren & Stimpy ''barely ever touches on plot. Even less so than other shows that focus mostly on their comedy like say ''Spongebob ''or ''Fanboy & Chum Chum. Ren: 'Squeak! Squeak! Squeak, I tell you, squeak! I definitely do have to respect ''Ren & Stimpy, ''because it did lead to a more creative-driven era, that more or less defined the nineties. I don't think shows like ''Rocko's Modern Life ''or ''Hey Arnold! could have existed without something as era-defining as Ren & Stimpy, and how much it really did change everything. And without Nickelodeon's early nineties dominance, we probably wouldn't have gotten the Cartoon Cartoons of the mid-nineties. This is the cartoon of the original three Nicktoons that everyone seems to remember. More than even Rugrats, which lasted longer, and definitely more than Doug. I would definitely recommend looking at ''Ren & Stimpy ''if you're interested in animation history alone, but if you want a simple laugh, a good episode of ''Ren & Stimpy ''can easily bring you there. '''Ren: ...I'm so angry...first, I'm gonna tear your lips out...yeah...That's what I'm gonna do... That being said, ya gotta pick a good episode. There are bad episodes, even before the Adult Party Cartoon ''era, which I am 'not 'talking about here. After John K. was fired in 1993, the rest of the show was given to Games Animation. They were able to get the show done on time and on budget, but a lot of the episodes did lose their soul. And hardcore ''Ren & Stimpy ''fans would suggest avoiding those, instead going with the originals. One of your safer bets though is watching any episode that was directed by Bob Camp. John Kricfalusi gets all of the fame or...infamy as it were for ''Ren & Stimpy ''in its legacy, but Bob Camp was actually one of the most important people in this development. And it's sad that the guy doesn't get any fame for one of the most important cartoons of all time. Seriously, the guy was a developer, he did stories, storyboards, writing, direction, he produced and he was a voice actor on many, many episodes. The guy put his heart into this show. And if you're really curious, maybe check out a couple of episodes. "Stimpy's Invention," "Sven Hoek," "Stimpy's Fan Club." These are episodes that you can't go wrong with. If those aren't for you, then this show isn't for you. And it's definitely a show that's not for everyone. But if you really wanna take a chance, you could buy the whole series. It's available on Amazon, and it costs you less than buying yourself a copy of ''Cans Without Labels. No, I'm not kidding. John Kricfalusi has been selling his 11-minute kickstarted cartoon for more than Amazon sells the ''entirety ''of Ren & Stimpy. This wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. What's next? (Cut to clip of Doug theme song) Oh...yay, the show about a Funnie who isn't funny at all. Okay. (End Credits Theme: "Happy Happy Joy Joy" from the episode "Stimpy's Invention") Category:Nick-o-Rama Category:Transcripts